Choose your words – and fewer of them, please!

That’s me – if I’m running a conference call, I tend to talk too much — even if we have an agenda, I wander off topic and I’m sure can be confusing to anybody on the call. On the flip side, I have been on a call where the same thing happens and find myself losing focus and checking email… so presumably this is happening to others, too. We are in such a rush, we have too much on our plates, we are trying to cram in way too many meetings, every day, every week, and it all becomes an inefficient use of our collective time. And in the end, we feel like we haven’t accomplished our goals!

I am going to take my own advice and 1) SLOW DOWN; 2) STATE THE GOAL FOR ALL; 4) LISTEN TO OTHERS; 5) SUMMARIZE AND FORMULATE ACTION PLAN

Dan Rockwell, of LeadershipFreak.com, said it better in response to a “DearAbby” inquiry. Check it out.

My Outlook Calendar is full – and I feel like I’m checking it hourly to remember what’s coming up — but whatever it takes, planning ahead is my best approach for preparedness, even if I’m not ‘ready’ for the group discussion. Try to remember that the others working the project may have key questions or insight that can help the team meet the goal, so allowing others time to provide unscripted input can be helpful (and may get the quiet ones to speak up)!